It started with Upland police chief sharing a photo on social media, touting the efforts of his officers to help one of the city’s homeless individuals get off the streets.

A tweet posted by Chief Darren Goodman last week showed an unidentified bearded and bedraggled man flanked by four Upland police officers .

“Today, our Impact Officers were able to get a homeless person off the streets and into shelter at Hope for Home in Pomona. When the homeless accept help, everyone wins,” the tweet read, ending with the hashtags #MakingADifference #UplandPride.

Except, some in Pomona didn’t consider that winning.

A screen grab of the now-deleted tweet was posted on several Pomona Facebook groups, which immediately sparked a visceral reaction and claims that Upland was dumping its homeless in Pomona.

Although Upland police officers have since transferred the unidentified man to a shelter in San Bernardino County, Pomona police Chief Michael Olivieri Monday said there was no “dumping.”

Upland officers had called Pomona’s new shelter and service center, Olivieri said in a phone interview Monday, and were told there was room and the homeless man would be accepted.

“There was no ill will,” Olivieri said. “Everybody is trying to do the right thing, and the officers, — innocently — they did ask and we said yes.”

Olivieri said the mistake was made in accepting the individual.

In a statement on Facebook, Goodman said his officers and the shelter staff simply had the best “intentions of providing shelter” to a homeless person.

“When it comes to homelessness, we share the same concern as every community around us. This is exactly the reason we would not take our problems to another city,” Goodman wrote.

Now that Upland is aware of the procedures, Goodman assured Pomona residents the mistake would not happen again.

Hope for Home, a year-round homeless services center, opened in December and since then, has been serving an average of 200 people daily. It is still not at capacity, according to the city manager’s March 14 newsletter.

Pomona officials also took to Facebook the day after Goodman’s tweet first appeared to share they were aware of the situation and reiterated the goal of the service center, which is to “provide a path from the streets to housing for those who are homeless in Pomona.”

The post went on to say Pomona is committed to using the local and grant funding obtained for the center on its own homeless.

Both Olivieri and Councilman Robert Torres said they have heard from residents who suspect other agencies dump their homeless in the city.

“The problem is that the stigma is out there, that (other cities) are dropping off their homeless, and the (chief’s) picture seemed to validate that,” Torres said.

Olivieri said he has publicly encouraged residents to report any illegal activity to him but added the Upland incident was not one of them.

Mayor Tim Sandoval said by phone Monday afternoon the incident can serve as a learning experience for everyone. Sandoval said he also spoke to Upland Mayor Debbie Stone, who apologized.

“It was clear to me that it wasn’t any intent to dump a homeless man — there was real concern for this person,” Sandoval said. “I see this as an opportunity to grow and educate each other. We just need to make sure we’re in a position that we take care of our own.”

For his part, Olivieri said he plans on clarifying the rules to other departments in his next meeting with area police chiefs. His lieutenant will do the same thing at a meeting with San Gabriel Valley and Inland Empire counterparts, he said.

Liset Márquez covers the cities of Pomona, Claremont, La Verne and San Dimas for the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. A beat reporter for the Bulletin since 2006, she previously wrote for the Chattanooga Times Free Press. She keeps a watchful eye on city councils and the Dodgers.